背景介绍
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Potassium channels are present in most mammalian cells, where they participate in a wide range of physiologic responses. protein
encoded by this gene is an integral membrane protein and inward-rectifier type potassium channel. The encoded protein, which has
a greater tendency to allow potassium to flow into a cell rather than out of a cell, is controlled by G-proteins and plays an
important role in regulating heartbeat. It associates with three other G-protein-activated potassium channels to form a heteromul
timeric pore-forming complex that also couples to neurotransmitter receptors in the brain and whereby channel activation can inhibit
action potential firing by hyperpolarizing the plasma membrane. These multimeric G-protein-gated inwardly-rectifying potassium
(GIRK) channels may play a role in the pathophysiology of epilepsy, addiction, Down's syndrome, ataxia, and Parkinson's disease.
Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants encoding distinct proteins. [provided by RefSeq, May 2012]
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